Week Ten's Sci-Fi Cuisine from 1962

Last weekend, an expedition was in order. My journey, left unplanned, brought me to Brant’s Bookstore. There, I came across stacks of old, brown magazines. They were issues of Galaxy Magazine, an anthropology that developed the science-fiction genre and several sub-genres, into what they are today. Amongst the stack, I picked up Galaxy Magazine 1962, and in it, I found Gourmet by Allen Kim Lang.

This short story is set in a space cruiser traveling to Mars which would take 6 months to get to. Before we meet our protagonist, Allen Kim Lang introduces us to nouns that sound similar to today’s linguistic’s, but are different enough to let the viewer know that this timeline's language has some kind of alien linguistics injected into it. With words like 'fo’c’s’le', ‘Lobscousers', and 'Saccharomycodes’ it’s obvious we’ve learned to coexist with alien life. Then, the writer goes on to describe the concept of an impending space-war, but Kim Lang doesn’t specify who or what we’re going to war with. Apparently, this war is why they’re headed to Mars, and it’s why the Captain of this cruiser is a militaristic hard-ass. After establishing concepts pertinent to the setting, we meet chef Robert Bailey, who’s challenged by the Captain to create masterful dishes using Chlorella algae, which they picked from ‘cis-Martian space’. The idea of algae on humanoid-alien worlds reflects the sci-fi idea that aliens are more similar to us humans than we might believe. Additionally, the algae aren't just used for food; it’s chemically manipulated into oxygen and water as well. It’s clear the writer believes we can use plant matter to survive usually inhabitable areas.

Sci-fi in the 20th century has clearly played a role in the development of our world today. Although he most likely wasn’t the first to write about it, Allen Kim Lang’s idea about using plants to survive parallels with today's belief that we don’t have to use plants as just food. We use plants to develop renewable energy, various utilitarian tools, and stem cell research. However, with our willingness to manipulate plant life, we’ve created businesses like Monsanto. In an effort to make our food as genetically perfect as possible, these types of businesses have poisoned the human race with harsh pesticides and antibiotics that make us sick.